So as some of you read, I get really lazy when it comes to taking down the Christmas lights off of my house. Im good about doing it on the inside, but the outside shows how lazy I really am.

So a mere 54 days after Christmas, I finally took down the Christmas lights off of the house. And my neighborhood rejoiced. I think the amazing thing in this whole process is counting up the many excuses that I can come up with that keep me from doing, what when its all said and done, took 45 min to complete.

Some of the excuses Im best known for include… “the wind is blowing too hard from the North today”. “Its too cold.” “I need a new ladder first.” or my personal favorite…. “I need to spend time with my family today.” When all else fails, you can really make yourself feel good by spending time with your family and put off work at the same time. So there you have it…this concludes the saga of the Shaffer house Christmas celebration. What started the day after thanksgiving, finally came to a close the third week of Feb.

Happy Holidays.
Robby

Here’s a quick little video from the (early) morning we visited the 700 Club.

Enjoy.

…backstage at the 700 club.

What on earth could it mean?

So Jeremy Camp has been a friend of ours for years. He is one of the few artists that I really do stay in touch with and not just see once a year at GMA week. He has been the real deal ever since the early days. In fact here is Jeremy back when we first met. He has really come a long way…and apparently…he likes pumpkins.

-bart

Days off are usually spent two different ways; either doing absolutely nothing or staying busy getting those tasks done that have been sitting all year. This past week I finally tackled a task that has been bugging me all year. I have some french doors at my house that not only needed to be put up, but made to fit and close properly. So after getting them hung; which means hanging them so they are actually doors and not big heavy barricades that are always in the way; I had to shave them down and attach all necessary hardware.

So here is how it went down…

-The casing, or frame, that the doors hang on was set in a bit too much which caused the doors to hit in the middle when closed. So I had to slowly shave the inside edge of each down so that they would not only close but look good too. So scrape, scrape, scrape. And before I knew it the doors were closing just fine.

-Good spacing, and an even gap!

-The next step was to put on the ball/ bullet latches on the top of each door. They don’t latch in the middle so these latches are perfect. You can adjust them after you install them so that is nice. First I drilled a one inch wide hole in the top of each door. Both only an inch deep or so, for the barrel of each latch to slide down into.

-Then I carefully notched out the grooves for the catches. Making sure not to cut them too far back or the latches would not catch. Then I put the latch plates into each groove making sure that each was set back far enough for each door close all of the way.

-After making sure the doors closed securely it was time to put on the handles. It was tempting to just eyeball these and hope they lined up, but I measured and made sure they would sit in the same spot on each door. It is always important to drill a pilot hole so that you not only make certain and sure you are in the right spot, but you will not strip the head off of your screw trying to tighten them down! Yes I learned that the hard
way.

-All four handles on and look good.

-There were 4 trim pieces that sit over the frosted glass of each door. So I found which piece fit which door…..

-Each piece was a bit too long….which is better than too short. So I used a fine tooth hack saw to trim off the extra. I was careful not to twist the saw or push too hard so that I didn’t break off any wood along the tip or edges.

-Then I checked the fit of each one and started applying the glue. They needed to fit snug up against the glass so I had to apply glue evenly over the back of each piece. Don’t use too much or it will smoosh out when you press it down!

-It takes a bit for the glue to set so I used a few extra boards with clamps holding them in place to keep pressure on the trim while it sets.

-So after and hour or so I took off the clamps and looked at my work. Everything seems to be even and solid. Hoo Raaa! I am by no means a carpenter but I do try to be a handyman from time to time. This was something I could tackle on my own and I had fun doing it.

-Well, hopefully I didn’t bore you. I am available Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for those in need of some work around the house to be done. And I will only charge $2000.00 an hour! Haha!
Your friendly DIY’er,
Nathan

This is one of my most favorite pictures. About a year and a half ago, we were on tour with Audio Adrenaline. It was their last tour actually, and both bands were given these little off road scooters. That was the greatest tour ever! We would scoot all day, break long enough to do the show, and then scoot into the night.

There is nothing more intimidating than when twelve guys in leather jackets roll up to a stop light on 49cc scooters. LOOK OUT! Man what great memories. We still take our scooters with us, but it will never be the same without Audio A by our side. Turning off our ignition at stop signs, running us off the road, convincing us these scooters can make it up pikes peak and promising us that, as long as we stay on the cart path, driving through a golf course at night is not illegal are just a few reasons why we will miss Audio Adrenaline and also why we can no longer play golf in San Antonio…kidding of course.

-Bart

So I have received a few remarks about the size of my gigantic head next to Chris Daughtry’s head from a pic I posted a few blogs ago. Why do we automatically assume that my head is huge? Maybe Chris’s head is the size of a baseball. I am not saying that it is, I am just making the point that we always go after the big guy. Well I have fixed the problem.

When Chris came to our show, I told him we had to make it right. That obviously the picture was not proportioned right or something. So this time we have attempted to retake the photo with us standing perfectly even with each other so you can see the true sizes of our heads.

“HOLY COW LOOK AT THAT GUYS HEAD!!!!!!! IT”S LIKE AN ORANGE ON A TOOTHPICK!!!!!”

It looks so much bigger even when we are standing perfectly even with each other, with no leaning forward or anything. Boy that Bart is sure lucky to have a “smaller than Daughtry” head. Poor Chris…I bet he has strong neck muscles though…holding that head up and all.

-bart

For those that don’t know, I live in Greenville, TX. I was born and raised here and it certainly holds a special place in by heart, but let’s face it, it is not one of the prettier places on earth. Now Greenville, South Carolina is a different story. We played there a few days ago and I had know idea how awesome this town is. There is a waterfall right in the middle of downtown that is gorgeous! Not to mention that downtown itself is awesome with or without the waterfall.

But what made this place majestic was its minor league baseball park. Home of the Greenville Drive. Man I was in heaven! They just built a new stadium to look like a little Fenway park. My dream in life is to have a minor league team in my hometown with a killer ballpark, so I was going nuts at this stadium. A guy in the front office was kind enough to let us check out the whole place. It was a good day.

So if anyone reads this and has several million to blow on a minor league team, give me a shout.

-bart

This morning we performed on the 700 club. It went great with the exception of having to be awake for a 6:30am soundcheck. Man that is too early for a bunch of guys that work at night. All in all we had a great time. Thanks for having us 700 club, and thank you for being a ministry who is truly trying to complete the great commission so that Christ can return.

- Bart